Storage cluster systems are often assembled from a complex collection of hardware and software components that may be selected from a wide range of options. Such selections are often based on storage requirements that differ from client to client. Also, as time passes, client needs may change and available options for replacing and/or upgrading hardware or software components of a storage cluster system may change. Thus, each storage cluster system may be of a relatively unique configuration from the date of its installation and/or may become relatively unique over time. This may make lessons learned during the operation of one storage cluster system harder to apply to another.
Additionally, larger storage cluster systems may be made up of significant greater quantities of components and/or those components may be more thoroughly geographically dispersed. Such measures may be to increase overall storage capacity, to increase speed of access to client data and/or to increase redundancy to more ably handle a wider variety of failures that may occur. Also, those components may also be interconnected by a larger quantity and/or greater complexity of network connections.
As a result, administrators of storage cluster systems may encounter various challenges in diagnosing problems, maintaining, repairing and/or upgrading such storage cluster systems. By way of example, administrators charged with overseeing multiple storage cluster systems may find it difficult to grasp the details of enough of the components of a storage cluster system to understand interactions among those components, in addition to grasping the details of an event and/or various automated responses to that event.